Exam syndrome

I am sooo happy that mid year exam is over. My brain can finally rest for a while but not for too long, because I still have to study for SPM and stuff. But that’s not what I want to talk about today. I want to share something that I experienced in exam week. It was Tuesday and I just got out of class after sitting for chemistry exam. Chemistry paper was unbelievable. Ok, so as I was walking out of class my nose smelled something different in the air. I smelled sea water. Salty vapour from the sea. I knew I was losing my mind because my school is nowhere near the ocean. My school is in Serdang! There’s no ocean in Serdang. My brain is not functioning properly. A classic sign of exam syndrome.

Exam syndrome is a condition me and my bff discoverd(ceh! macam bagus je) when we were in form 1. We were both under a lot of stress and pressure to fit in school. The stress is even higher when we are sitting for exams. And everyone is stressed out. We’ve never seen people just losing their mind like that. I remember this guy was playing with his pen and tapping it  making a very annoying sound. And everyone is just quiet and gloomy. Or just plain crazy.  That was just minor exam syndrome. A few days of stress busting activities and you’ll be fine. When you get older, school becomes tougher and the pressure to fit in is higher. You’ll know it’s serious when you’re starting to see mathematical equations and algebraic expressions floating in the air. Scary!

Mid year exam that I just went through showed dozens of exam syndrome symptoms. Everyone had it. Add math was awful and the classroom was super quiet because we were all trying so hard to figure out the tough questions. I was so confused, I can’t even understand basic English. The questions were just gibberish to me. I’m gonna cry if I think about it. The whole classroom was so stressed out that when a girl accidentally dropped her bottle on the floor everyone was startled. They were easily irritated and grumpy. My hands were shaking at the end of the exam. I can’t even tie a knot to bind the papers together! I had to take out my stapler and use it on the papers. 

So basically exam syndrome is just stress that you get when you’re sitting for exams. to deal with it you just have to do what you normally do to beat stress. And study early for your exams. Obviously you have to study and you won’t get exam syndrome. I really have to start taking my own advice. So this school holiday try to grab a book and read it. It’s the only way to overcome exam syndrome.

Note: Do not ask your doctor about this. Exam syndrome does not exist. It’s just made up by me. :)

Farah